//------------------------------//
// Interlude 2A 
// Story: The Siren 
// by McPoodle 
//------------------------------//

A cave in the hills overlooking the village of Hollow Shades.

April 11, Year 23 of the Classical Era (CE), which preceded the Princess Era. More than twelve hundred years ago. Monday.

The first time that Sonata had ever experienced sadness was at that moment. In that cage. Alone.

The two gray ponies were arguing. For once, the siren was not responsible.

“I had matters under control, Stygian!” the older of the two ponies shouted.

“Yes, I know I failed you once again, Star Swirl. But don’t you see the opportunity?”

(A third, blue pony stood at the cave entrance, fuming. She was even angrier than the two arguers.)

Sonata didn’t care much what the two ponies were arguing about. What she cared about was being alone.

Adagio and Aria were gone. Forever. Through some magical hole that the bearded pony over there had summoned into existence. There was nothing Sonata could do about that. Nothing she could do to get her two sisters back. This “sadness” was a useless emotion. So why did she feel it?

When Adagio had called her useless, she hadn’t felt sad. She had felt empty. That seemed right. Emptiness was the lack of anger. Those two states seemed to be the only right emotions for a siren to feel.

“You! Siren!”

Sonata looked up. The two ponies from before were in front of her cage, looking down at her. The bearded one was still angry, and he was the one talking. The younger one was watching, a bit afraid. Afraid of which one of us? Sonata wondered.

“Siren!” he repeated.

Adagio would have said “What do you want?” With a sneer. Oh, how Sonata missed that sneer!

She on the other hoof could only summon up a tired and somewhat whiny “Whaat?”

“Why do you still exist?”

This brought confusion to Sonata. Ah, Confusion. A weak pony emotion, as Aria always told her. Sonata experienced Confusion a lot. “Huh?” she asked.

“The only other sirens we captured turned into sea spray when they realized they couldn’t escape,” the younger pony explained.

“Huh,” said Sonata, thinking this over. “That makes sense.” She could do that? Will herself into non-existence? Sure, she could do that—what else was there to live for? But no. Finally, she told them, “I’m scared of the dark.” She was very grateful at that moment for the roaring fire located at the back of the cave—more for the light than the heat, though. It was sweltering in here.

She cringed, expecting the blow on the head that would have come if Adagio and Aria were here.

“We could study it,” the younger pony suggested, meekly.

“Study it?” the other pony asked.

“Yes!” the first pony said, gaining confidence. “I’ve read tales about other creatures that feed on emotions. Fear, love, maybe even happiness. Perhaps we can learn techniques from this Siren that would work against those creatures as well?” He looked down at Sonata. “This is what you do, isn’t it?” he asked. “Feed on our anger. Convert it into magic. What a fascinating process!”

The elder pony glared down at the younger. He was going to shout the other pony down, Sonata knew. The younger, weaker pony would let him, and then the elder would kill her.

The younger pony was interested in her. In. Her. Out of all of the sirens and other creatures that Sonata had encountered in her hundred years of life thus far, only Adagio had any interest in whether Sonata lived or died. Although she usually tried to hide it. The others only wanted her dead. And now this one.

She wanted to know more about this pony…Stygian, Sonata believed his name was? So, she looked at the angry pony and drained his anger from him. Not in the usual way, not so that he would collapse to the ground into a coma, but enough to change his mind, Sonata hoped.

The elder dropped his glare and stroked his beard in thought. “Yes, I see some merit in your proposal. Let’s draw up a plan of study and begin experimentation tomorrow.”

(Later when she was alone the blue pony walked up to the cage. Looked down at her with cold eyes. “You’re going to wish you took the easy way out soon enough,” she whispered before walking away.)

And so that was how Sonata Dusk set the terms of her imprisonment.